Texas Piano Man Robert Ellis Is Fucking Crazy with His New Video

Oh, wow. I know he doesn’t live here anymore, but like a handful of other luminaries (Jana Hunter and Carolyn Wonderland, for two), I will always, always consider Robert Ellis a Houstonian, for ever and ever, no matter where the hell he happens to lay his hat.

So although he’s based up in NYC these days (I think?), I’ve been avidly following whatever the man does, whether it’s the Dear John stuff he did with Courtney Hartman, his Traveller outfit with Cory Chisel and Jonny Fritz, or his latest persona, the Texas Piano Man — which also happens to be the name of his new album.

Granted, most of what I’ve heard from Ellis up to now has revolved around his guitar and that honey-rich voice of his, so I was a little bit skeptical of the new focus on the grand piano. Surely this wasn’t going to be Robert Ellis doing Liberace, right? Right?

Well, maybe just a little. A very little, and that’s okay, because the lead single from Texas Piano Man, “Fucking Crazy,” is so, so, so good. And bizarre. And fun. It’s Americana like Ellis has always done it, to a point, but with something extra thrown in there besides; if I had to find a solitary touchstone, it would be Willie Nelson and Julio Iglesias dueting on “To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before,” a recording that has a weirdly special place in my heart from my childhood.

And then there’s the video, which fits the song like a goddamn glove, casting fellow H-town expat Ben Godfrey as the Mickey Knox of a star-crossed couple of murderous lunatics blazing their anarchic way across Texas, while Ellis himself croons and plays his piano atop a hill somewhere near Marfa. I love it so freaking much I can’t say anything more about it; just watch:

Stay crazy, Mr. Ellis.